19 Mar 2017: St Albans to Streatley

There's a whole network of pleasing and not completely flat lanes  between St Albans (our start) and Hitchin (our coffee stop). We maybe included too many of them because when we got to the excellent Hitchin Kitchen for a break we had already turned in well over 20 miles. We included Peters Green and Preston in our route and a lot of twisty lanes in between.

The always efficient cafe soon sorted out our refreshments but a shorter route to lunch at Streatley seemed a good idea. Our weather seems to have featured powerful winds over recent days, Sunday was no exception with a strong westerly. not too bad on our outward leg but as soon as we turned west in the flat open country north of Hitchin cycling was a struggle. You are faced with a stiff climb which ever way you approach Streatley, we chose the A6 footpath out of Barton-le-Clay - a long but steady gradient. 

The Chequers

The Chequers is a relaxed and accommodating pub. We stopped on the way home down Lilley Bottom to watch close-up a number of red kites enjoying a tasty snack in the road-side field.